Be Careful What You Wish For
by KiraCaseAgent
Summary: Karkat learns that a smile is worth more than the silence.


It was frustrating to see Terezi in such a state of unchanging melancholy. Nothing he could say would bring back her typical grin, nothing he could do could give her the energy she had before this whole Dave thing started. The best part being that she won't even talk to him about what happened. He was left in the dark.

Looking back and remembering all of the never-ending laughter she presented, all of the hyperactivity she was putting up for display, he had clearly thought to the moments where he had told her to stop all of those things - that he'd wished her mute. Now, his wish was granted. All she did was quietly stand by her treehouse. Sure, if someone approached her, she would say something. But that something was very likely to be "I'm okay," or "Leave me alone."

It was a sad concept, but true. Bringing her mundane gifts, such as her favorite scalemates, candy red chalk, and treasure didn't help. She would mutter a small "Thank you," but that would be all. The assorted items he would give her were scattered around the trunk of the tree, and she would never mess with them. All except for the chalk, in which she wrote on the bark "L34V3 M3 4LON3." It was a depressing sight.

It almost seemed as everyone in this game had lost hope. Seeing Terezi lose all of her ambition and motivation was the last, most definite sign of this theory. What the hell happened? What could have possibly deprived her of happiness? Something truly cold-hearted. If Karkat's past statements on her annoying demeanor, half-assed competence, and wrong decisions hadn't made her upset, then what did? He couldn't even look at her facial expressions, as she had hidden herself in that dragon suit.

If she smiled, he couldn't see it. The snout of the suit covered her lower face when she looked down, which was where she looked all the time. Karkat wanted to talk to her. Terezi didn't want to talk to him. That's too bad.

"Terezi, what's wrong?"

"..."

"Terezi, can you please answer me and make this a little less dramatic?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"That's complete and utter bullshit."

"Okay. If that's what you want to believe."

She was nonmoving. Her point in this protest, or whatever it was, is clear. "Come on..." He moved his hand to take off her hood, but she just made a low grumble and pulled it all the way up again. He hadn't seen anything new of her face. Mostly because she didn't let the hood slide off all the way. Her eyes and mouth, both of them were still covered. "Please go away." She crouched and sat on the ground with her knees to her chest, and burying her already cloaked self within the safety of the red costume. Karkat actually shook his head at this gesture. Not a sad kind of shaking, but a defiant one. "Get up," he demanded, sternly, but not loudly. "No." she retorted.

The more he observed this behavior, he saw how childish it was. Depression had struck her, of course, but there was no excuse for all of these rejections. However, he remembered her comments on the Beforus kids. How Latula intimidated her, not violently, but with a dominance of 'cool.' "You know, Latula doesn't have half the brains that you do," he comforted. Terezi, with a sniff, looked up at him behind her mask. "It's not about brains, Karkat. She's so much cooler than I am. Everyone likes her, and I bet everyone prefers her."

These problems, as simple they may seem, were serious. Finally, he had noticed that. You can't solve them with a shoosh pap, which he had grown accustom to turning to. "I don't prefer her." he said, after several, silent seconds. She looked paralyzed, as if her whole body went into shock. "That's a lie."

"No it's not." he returned. She wiped a tear from under her reddened eyes. These are the only words that she had heard in a week or so, besides their last conversation with Meenah running around. She moved out of her previous pose and stood up to hug Karkat. He finally got to see the smile he had waited for when the hood of her suit fell.


End file.
